Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT)

1. Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) Steve Martin, CMT Program Manager Bureau of Research, Evaluation, and Student Assessment Connecticut State Department of Education

2. CMT Background Information: What is the CMT, and why does Connecticut Administer this test?

3. State Legislation • Connecticut General Statutes Section 10-14n currently mandates a statewide mastery test to be administered annually in the spring to all public-school students enrolled in grades 3,4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

4. Federal Legislation (NCLB) Requires all states to test public-school students in these grades (and one high-school grade). One goal of this federal legislation is for all students to perform at the proficient level or above on state administered tests by 2014.

5. History of CMT Subjects Tested

6. The Four Item Types • Multiple-Choice • Usually four answer options • DRP gives five answer options • Grid-In (mathematics only) 7 x 42 = ? • Short-Answer Can including drawing graphs and shapes • Extended-Response

7. The Connecticut Mastery Test • Mathematics • Reading Reading Comprehension Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) • Writing Direct Assessment of Writing Editing and Revising • Science

9. Reporting Student Results Five Performance Levels • Advanced • Goal • Proficient • Basic • Below Basic

10. Reporting Student Results Five Performance Levels • Advanced • Goal • Proficient • Basic • Below Basic According to NCLB, all students must be scoring at Proficient or above in mathematics and reading by 2014.

11. Current Goal for NCLB Accountability • CMT Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Reading: 68% at/above Proficient Math: 74% at/above Proficient Participation: 95% must participate

12. Consequences of the results for students, schools and districts

13. If a school or subgroup does not achieve Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in the same content area for two consecutive years, the school is identified as “in need of improvement.” This will put the school in Year 1 of school improvement. The law is specific to schools and district who receive federal Title I funding: School Improvement: Year 1 All schools in Year 1 of school improvement must implement a school improvement plan: Title I schools in Year 1 of school improvement, in addition to creating a school improvement plan, must also provide the opportunity for all students in the school to transfer to another public school within the district that has not been identified as “in need of improvement.”

14. School Improvement: Year 2 must continue to implement the Year 1 consequences, but must also begin to offer supplemental educational services. School Improvement: Year 3 must continue to implement the Year 1 and Year 2 consequences, but must also take corrective action measures such as instituting a new curriculum or appointing an outside expert to advise the school.

15. School Improvement: Year 4 must continue corrective action, but must also begin planning for restructuring. School Improvement: Year 5 must implement the restructuring plan they developed during the course of the last year. The restructuring plan must reflect major reforms, such as significant changes in staffing, leadership, structure and governance.

16. CMT Resources

17. For a Complete Listing Visit the Department Website http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/ Then click: “Student Assessment” Then click: “Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT)” Then click: “CMT Resources and Publications” Or click: “CMT Assessment Data”

18. ASSESSMENT DATA CMTReports.com provides a robust data source for CMT reports. Through this website, you can build reports that are highly customized. For example…

19. This report shows the difference between grade 5 males and females for the whole state on mathematics and reading performance with respect to proficiency scores in 2007. Notice that females have better scores than males statewide, not only in reading, but in mathematics as well. Remember that this year’s AYP targets are: Reading: 68% at/above Proficient Math: 74% at/above Proficient This year, statewide, the students are achieving these goals, but fall short of the 100% Goal called for by 2014.

20. AYP = 74% AYP= 68% These data are for the same statewide group (grade 5, 2007) but show subgroup performance for race/ethnicity, poverty, special education and for English language learners. I have highlighted subgroups that do not hit current AYP targets statewide.

21. Questions?